Sustainability 2013, 5(6), 2722-2726; https://doi.org/10.3390/su5062722
A New Generation of Plant Breeders Discovers Fertile Ground in Organic Agriculture
1
Department of Horticulture, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1575 Linden Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA
2
Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 550 N. Park St., Madison, WI 53706, USA
3
Department of Agronomy, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1575 Linden Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA
â€
These authors contributed equally to this work.
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 17 May 2013 / Revised: 5 June 2013 / Accepted: 13 June 2013 / Published: 19 June 2013
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organic Farming and a Systems Approach to Sustainable Agroecosystems)
Abstract
Plant breeding for organic systems is a growing field that is attracting a new cohort of graduate students in land-grant plant breeding programs. In 2012, the first Student Organic Seed Symposium (SOSS) was organized by and for graduate students and held in Greensboro, VT. This three-day symposium brought together graduate students and plant breeding professionals in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Organic plant breeding offers an exciting new niche for public breeding programs, with the potential to develop unique opportunities and partnerships. Participation in the symposium demonstrated that graduate students are enthusiastic about engaging in organic plant breeding and building a community of support for their work. This new cadre of researchers represents one opportunity to collectively move towards a more sustainable agricultural future, and underscores the necessity of building and maintaining strong public plant breeding programs that can facilitate this work. View Full-TextKeywords:
plant breeding; organic agriculture; graduate education
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Luby, C.H.; Lyon, A.H.; Shelton, A.C. A New Generation of Plant Breeders Discovers Fertile Ground in Organic Agriculture. Sustainability 2013, 5, 2722-2726.
Related Articles
Article Metrics
Comments
[Return to top]
Sustainability
EISSN 2071-1050
Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland
RSS
E-Mail Table of Contents Alert